Charitable Ventures Agreement &
Business Grants Programs Guidelines
Jessica M. Gonzales
Economic Development Director
Amanda Wicker
Economic Development Administrator
City of Corona
The Ask
2 1. Approve Program Guidelines for:
• Small Business Grants
• Downtown Commercial Beautification Grants
2. Authorize staff to amend the Program Guidelines, as
necessary.
3. Approve a Professional Services Agreement with
Charitable Ventures to serve as the City’s Administrative Partner to implement the business grant programs.
2 Background
2021 2022 2023
Council appropriates
$1M of ARPA for
business grants
Meetings with grant
program financial
partners
Discussion on grants
programs with
business stakeholders
(EDSP meeting)
Downtown
Revitalization
Plan approved
Staff commences
business grant
program research
US Treasury Releases
Final Rule on ARPA
funds
Final Rule goes
into effect
Economic
Development
Strategic Plan
approved
Program
Guidelines
drafted
Committee of
the Whole
Update to
Council
Procurment process
commenced for
Admin. Grants
Partner
3 Overview of
Business Grants
City of Corona
Entrepreneur Grants Small Business Grants Downtown Commercial Beautification Grants
Business Grant Programs
5 City of Corona
Entrepreneur Grants Small Business Grants
Downtown
Commercial
Beautification Grants
Grant Amount $5,000 $10,000 $20,000
Number of Grants 60 30 15
Total Allocation $300,000 $300,000 $300,000
Admin. Service Costs $33,000 $33,000 $33,000
Business Grant
Programs
6 General Eligibility Requirements
7 • Private, for-profit business
• Business must have at least one year of
operating history as of January 1, 2023
• Must be current on all licenses and permits
unless the grant funds will bring them into
compliance
Overview of
Program Guidelines
City of Corona
Overview of Program Guidelines
• Grant funding amounts
• Eligibility criteria
• Reimbursable expenses
• Program administration and
implementation:
• Application intake
• Application review
• Grantee selection
• Awarding of funds
9 Administrative
Grants Partner
City of Corona
Consulting Firm Final Ranking
Charitable Ventures 1
Berkeley Strategy Advisors 2
Booth Management
Consulting, LLC 4
Geocko, Inc DBA Forward 4
Global Urban Strategies, Inc. 5
Eli Patrick & Co. 6
Administrative Grants Partner Proposal Rankings
11 Scoring Criteria:
• Firm qualifications and
experience working with
public agencies
• Personnel qualifications
• Proposed work plan and
demonstrated project
understanding and approach
City of Corona
Charitable Ventures
• Distributed more than $27 million
in COVID-19 relief funds
• Performed grant administration
for:
• Riverside County Micro Business
Relief Fund
• County of Orange CARES Act
Relief Grants
12 City of Corona
Next Steps
• Kick-off meeting with Charitable
Ventures
• Charitable Ventures to:
• Review Program Guidelines
• Develop marketing and outreach
strategy
• Develop application portal and website
• Mobilize to launch initial grant programs
prior to end of 2024
13 City of Corona
The Ask
14 1. Approve Program Guidelines for:
• Small Business Grants
• Downtown Commercial Beautification Grants
2. Authorize staff to amend the Program Guidelines, as
necessary.
3. Approve a Professional Services Agreement with
Charitable Ventures to serve as the City’s Administrative Partner to implement the business grant programs.
14 Thank you. Thank you.